uses of stem cells

- they said roman hadhypoplastic left heart syndrome and the best thing that we could do would be to take him home and in probably about three or four days, he'dpass away on his own. i was 25 weeks pregnantwhen we went back home just absolutely devastatedand we decided to come to mayo and they gave us hope. (inspirational music) - the focus of this initialtrial is on the diagnosis of

hypoplastic left heart syndromeand that is a congenital heart defect where half of theheart is not really formed. now the ventricle that the childis left with is a ventricle that now has a muchbigger responsibility than what it was initiallydesigned for and so over time, the function of this ventriclegradually can get reduced to the point that the child,or maybe a young adult, will start to developsymptoms of heart failure. once the function ofthe ventricle goes down,

we don't have anythingthat we can do for that. stem cell therapy hasthe ability to improve the function of any of theseventricles that are failing. whether it be a child,whether it be an adult, whether it be a congenital defect, whether it be an adult defect. - the study here at mayo clinic with hypoplastic left heartchildren is really the first fda approved clinicaltrial using stem cells

to try to regenerate and curecongenital heart disease. the study is really designedto identify children with this disease before they're born, collect umbilical cord bloodat the time of their birth. these children typicallyneed three surgeries. first starting in thefirst few days of life, few months of life anda few years of life. these three open-heart surgeries give us an opportunity at thesecond one to deliver these

stem cells into their heartwith the intent of trying to make their heart bigger,better and stronger. roman went through theprocedure three months ago and received the stemcells and since that time, he's done extremely well. what we believe ishappening is these cells are probably stimulatingthe underlying regenerative capacity of the heart. there's 40,000 childrenborn in the united states

with congenital heartdisease and a good percentage of them develop heart failureso this type of therapy may allow us to delay or, ideally, prevent the need for cardiac transplantation. - i hope roman's future has no set-backs, nothing holds him back. - my hope for roman's surgeries is that it'll benefit people in the future. - the reality that we'refacing today in bio-medical

research is funding is being pushed down at the national level soit really creates this valley of death betweeninnovation and applications. - if you look at the majormilestones in medicine, we had antibiotic therapy for the life-threatening infections, then we had the inception of heart surgery using the heart lung machine. then we had transplantationwhere we were able

to come up with medicinesthat minimized rejection. that was probably the lastmajor miracle in medicine. this is the next potentialmiracle in medicine where it has the potentialto impact the largest number of patients in healthcare,in heart failure. so we can make a difference,so we should make a difference. thank you.

Read More »

umbilical cord stem cells

uc davis medical center's 'birthing unit'has long been a place where new life begins. now it's part of the first statewide effortto create a public bank for umbilical cord blood and new mom natalie hanson knows itwill someday save lives. my twin sister was diagnosed with juvenilediabetes when we were eight and i know that they use cord blood to try and find curesfor things like diabetes. hanson decided to donate her daughter wren'sumbilical cord blood, which would otherwise be disposed of. it's an ideal source of stem cells -- bothfor research and as an alternative to bone marrow for patients who need life-saving transplants.

cord blood is absolutely wonderful for transplantbecause it can be stored frozen, unlike bone marrow, where a donor needs to be found atthe time when you need that transplant. private 'banking' of umbilical cord bloodhas long been an option - but an expensive one - for new parents who want to bank cordblood for their own families possible use. as a result, the public cord blood inventoryis very limited -- both in quantity and diversity. uc davis' institute for regenerative cureswas chosen to launch the program that is free to parents and creates a reliable source ofcord blood that reflects the population of our entire state. with california being such a diverse areawith so many mixed races, we're a great state

for increasing the availability - anyone whoneeds cord blood for transplant can find a match. donating cord blood is quick, easy and posesno risk to baby or mom. collection specialist karen o'donnell says the response from newparents has been overwhelming. we're totally in agreement with it. it's justanything that we can do to help. we're not going to use it ourselves, so why let it goto waste? thanks to the youngest of donors and theirparents, transplant patients will someday soon have a much greater chance of findinga life-saving match. this program has the potential to save thousands-- maybe millions -- of lives.

in sacramento, kristen simoes, for uc davis.

Read More »

umbilical cord blood

cord blood storage inside an umbilical-cord-blood bank

Read More »

umbilical cord blood stem cells

after a mom decides to donate her placenta,cord blood staff will wait outside her birthing room door where a nurse will hand over herplacenta and cord. cord blood staff will take that placenta andcord to our collection room and collect the blood that is in the cord. at this point, we will do a preliminary testto determine if the cord blood unit qualifies to be stored in the bank. if it qualifies, a nurse will approach themom to do a medical questionnaire and blood work. if a mom decides not to donate, her placentawill be discarded as medical waste.

Read More »

umbilical cord blood donation

from the moment you know you're going to be a parent... you dream of giving your child the best future possible. at cells for life, we believe one of the best ways to protect their future is by banking cord blood and cord tissue. why bank? canadian medical guidelines recognize the value of cord blood banking, whether it's through privatebanks for your families use... or public banks for medical research and for anyone in need. your baby's umbilical cord contains stem cells, which can develop into almost any other human cell...

providing your family with proventreatment possibilities. in fact, cord blood, which contains hematopoietic stem cells, is routinely used to replace and restore bone marrow after chemotherapy and treats over 80 diseases including leukemia and lymphoma. ongoing trials are looking at the potential to treat even more diseases, such as cerebral palsy andtraumatic brain injuries. cord tissue contains a different cell type known as mesenchymal stem cells... which inhibit inflammation and modify immune functions. mscs are being studied for the treatment of many disorders including

autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes and lupus, and joint and bone diseaseslike arthritis. while research is in early stages the possibilities are promising. so, how does cord banking with cells for life work? after your baby is born, your doctor or midwife will collect the cord blood from the umbilical cord... and collective piece of the cord. once your collection kit is prepared, give us a call... and we will pick-up your kit and deliver it to the cells for life laboratory...

in toronto general hospital. here, the stem cells are carefully processed, safely preserved... and securely stored, and are availableimmediately if needed. before use, cord blood stem cells do not need further processing. in contrast, cord tissue cells need to be grown. that's why cells for life is proud to be the only canadian cord bank to use patented, state-of-the-art technology to isolate and store these cells in their most natural state. as a part of this process we grow a portion of each sample and provide you with proof that the cells are healthy and functional.

with experience since 1997 and a perfect transplant record, you know you can trust cells for life with what could be the most important investment you will ever make. banking cord blood and tissue today, can give your family peace of mind for tomorrow. when you're ready, contact us!

Read More »

umbilical cord banking

umbilical cord umbilical cord compression - maternal fetal circulation medical

Read More »

types of stem cells

imagine two people are listening to music. what are the odds that they are listening to the exact same playlist? probably pretty low. after all, everyone has very different tastes in music. now, what are the odds that your body will need the exact same medical care and treatment

as another person's body? even lower. as we go through our lives, each of us will have very different needs for our own healthcare. scientists and doctors are constantly researching ways to make medicine more personalized. one way they are doing this is by researching stem cells.

stem cells are cells that are undifferentiated, meaning they do not have a specific job or function. while skin cells protect your body, muscle cells contract, and nerve cells send signals, stem cells do not have any specific structures or functions. stem cells do have the potential to become all other kinds of cells in your body. your body uses stem cells

to replace worn-out cells when they die. for example, you completely replace the lining of your intestines every four days. stem cells beneath the lining of your intestines replace these cells as they wear out. scientists hope that stem cells could be used to create a very special kind of personalized medicine in which we could replace your own body parts with, well, your own body parts.

stem cell researchers are working hard to find ways in which to use stem cells to create new tissue to replace the parts of organs that are damaged by injury or disease. using stem cells to replace damaged bodily tissue is called regenerative medicine. for example, scientists currently use stem cells to treat patients with blood diseases

such as leukemia. leukemia is a form of cancer that affects your bone marrow. bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside your bones where your blood cells are created. in leukemia, some of the cells inside your bone marrow grow uncontrollably, crowding out the healthy stem cells that form your blood cells. some leukemia patients can receive

a stem cell transplant. these new stem cells will create the blood cells needed by the patient's body. there are actually multiple kinds of stem cells that scientists can use for medical treatments and research. adult stem cells or tissue-specific stem cells are found in small numbers in most of your body's tissues.

tissue-specific stem cells replace the existing cells in your organs as they wear out and die. embryonic stem cells are created from leftover embryos that are willingly donated by patients from fertility clinics. unlike tissue-specific stem cells, embryonic stem cells are pluripotent. this means that they can be grown

into any kind of tissue in the body. a third kind of stem cells is called induced pluripotent stem cells. these are regular skin, fat, liver, or other cells that scientists have changed to behave like embryonic stem cells. like embryonic stem cells, they, too, can become any kind of cell in the body. while scientists and doctors hope to use

all of these kinds of stem cells to create new tissue to heal your body, they can also use stem cells to help understand how the body works. scientists can watch stem cells develop into tissue to understand the mechnanisms that the body uses to create new tissue in a controlled and regulated way. scientists hope that with more research,

they can not only develop specialized medicine that is specific to your body but also better understand how your body functions, both when it's healthy and when it's not.

Read More »